Air and liquid cooling apparatus.



PATENTED FEB.- 20, 1906.

G. T. VOORHEES. AIR AND LIQUID COOLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5, 1903.

I UNITED STATES- IATENT OFFICE.

GARDNER T. V OOltHElCS, OF BOSTON, MASSACIIUSET'lS,.

AlHAND LIQUID COOLING APPAFIATUS.

vented certain new and useful Improveis variable also.

'of the liquid is so rapid that there is hardly ments inAir and Liquid Cooling Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

In existing apparatus for cooling airby contact with liquid-surfaces. or cooling liquids by contact with air, such as water-towers and air-coolers, I have found numerous objections arising from the fact that the liquid presented its surface to the air by either flowing like rain through theair or'flowing in a vertical or nearly vertical direction over surfaces, such as i es, wood, cloth, sheet metal, 620. One of t e objections is that the downward flow of the liquid due to gravitation is too rapidj. If a number of these surfaces are supposed to have equal ml'antities of liquid flowingover them, the question of regulation of the flow of 'the,.l'iquid is extremely diflicult. As a result, some of-the surfaces get too much liquid over them and others do not get nearly enough. The liquidsurface is so variable that the work of cooli 'ig Again, the downward flow time to do the required cooling before the liquid has left the surface.

In the process of artificial refrigeration it is becoming a well-known fact that the most successful way to cool rooms, buildings, coldstorage warehouses, theaters, ackinghouses, &c., is to have the air coo ed in a chamber outside of the room or space to be so cooled and to circulate the'air so cooled in the space to be cooled. This air is circulated. either by natural or artificial circulation. The earliest. method of cooling this air was to pass it over coils of pipe that were.

cooled by coldbrine orammonia circulated in them. These ipes would accumulate much frost, and tiiereby obstruct the passage of air. Thenit' was discovered that if brine was allowed to trickle over the outer I surfaces of these pipes it would keep the pipes free from frost and also keep the air drier than heretofore. This method is used extensivel today; but owing to the great expense o the pipe-coils, their valves, and con nections new methods are coming into use, whereby the pipes are done awaywith and vertical surfaces of cloth, boards, coke, sheetiron, '&c., are used to form surfaces on which Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed Junefi, 1903. Serial .No. 160,153.

Patented Feb. 20, 1906.

to conduct the brine that has been previously cooled and that alter passing over these sur-. faces is recooled and again passed over the surfaces. .ln orderto regulate the flow of the brine with any degree of mcety, many regulating valves must be governed which require resetting upon change in quantity of brine circulated or from stoppage due to for-- cign matter. These methods require great attent on and much a paratus to regulate properly the How over t iese surfaces.

Now the object of my invention-is to pr o-' vide means to overcome the difficulties presented by these methods In the drawings illustrating my invention, Flgure 1 1s a longitudinal vert cal section on l1ne W i\ of Fig. 2. F1 2 1s a cross vertical section on line Y Z of ig, 1. .Figs. 3 and 4' are end viewsshowing modifications of weir. Fig. 5 is a part longitudinal vertical crosssection showing modifications of weir.

A A are horizontal longitudinal stringers,

referabl an le-irons. 'lhesestrirwersaresc,

q M h cured by bolts 1) b to supports B B. The. latter are of an desired character and are here shown as our upright posts of wood. strips of material, preferably wood, laid side by side and extendim horizontally, having their ends supported W said stringers A A, They thus fornitiers of horizontal floors (J C and with the stringers form liquid-channels, which may be liqpid-tight or not. lf desired, these strips C may be perforated, forming perforated floors C C.

D is a liquid-inlet dischargingonto upper floor of the tiers of floors, while E is a liquidoutlet conducting the liquid away after ithas passed over a lower floor.

F F are Weirs, whi 11 maybe the length of strips 0, or they may be contracted, as in located at J K in Fig. 1, instead of J and K in'Fig. 2.

The 0 eratlonof the apparatus is as fol-- low-s: T 1e li uid flows from inlet 1) to upper floor-C o apparatus, over this floor, its

weir F, and down over successive floors and Fig. 4,-or have serrated edges, as in Fig. 3, or"

weirs, and then out at liquid-outlet E. This liquid may, if desired, be made to flow in part through one or more perforated floors C C. Air is caused to flow between the floors in contact with the flowing liquid. The air may flow, as indicated by the arrows in F ig. 2, entering at J and discharging at K,'or it may flow in the opposite direction, or by lowering the dampers to the dotted partitions the air may pass in parallel through the spaces between the floors. In Fig. .2 the air flows across the direction of flow of the liquid, but the air may flow in the same or in the opposite directions to the flow of the liquid by usingJ and K as air inlets and outlets and removing partitions g g and by boarding up the sides g g and providing the necessary dampers, such as are shown in Fig. 2.

This apparatus may be used to cool and purify air or to cool a liquid.

As' is well known, the relative humidity of the air, the temperature of the air, and the liquid and character of the liquid will determine whether the air is cooled and purified by contact with the liquid or whether the liquid is cooled by contact and evaporation with said air. The liquid may be water, brine, or the like and may. contain absorbent chemicals that will dry the air or deprive it of its carbonic acid. Such a chemical, as lime, will absorb carbonic acid, Water or brine will also absorb it to a limited degree. The air may be caused to circulate by gravity or by means of a fan. Whenever the word water is used, I mean any liquid that can be used as a medium to be cooled by evaporation by the air. The air thus cooled may be used for various purposes and not again passed through the cooling-chamber, new or fresh air being continually supplied. The brine may be cooled by any desired means for example, a brine-coil, ice, or any refrigerating-machine. Whenever the word brine is used, I mean any liquid that can be used as a medium to cool the air.

What I claim is 1. A tier of horizontal liquid channels formed of boards, and angle-irons which support the boards; the angle-irons extending the entire length of the liquid-channels in two tiers, the verticallegs of the angle-irons forming sides for the liquid-channels, while the horizontal legs form supports for the ends of the boards upright supports for the angleirons a li( uid-inlet to the upper liquid-channel and a liquid-outlet from the lower liquidchannel; liquid-outlets for the intermediate liquid-channels a casing inclosing the liquidchannels, the two sides of the said casing being at a distance from the liquid-channels;

angle-irons formin sides for the liquid-chanan air-inlet to, and an air-outlet from, the

casing air-channels being thus formed by the liquid-channels and these two sides of the casing all being so combined that liquid flowing through the liquid-channels will exchange heat with the air flowing through the airchannels. I

2. A tier of horizontal liquidchannels formed of boards, whose edges abut, and angle-irons which support the boards; the anle-irons extending the entire lcngthof the liquid-channels in two tiers, the vertical legs of the angle-irons forming sides for the liquidchannels, while the horizontal legs form supports for the ends of the boards; upright supports for the an le-irons a liquid-inlet to the upper liquid-channel, and a liquid-outlet from the lower liquid-channel; dams at the ends of the liquid-channels liquid-outlets for the intermediate li uid-channels; a casing inclosing the liquid-c annels, the two sides of said casing being at a distance from-the liquid-channels; an air-inlet to, and an air-outlet from, the casin air-channels being thus formed by the liquid-channels and these two sides of the casing; all being so combined that the liquid flowing through the liquid-channels will exchan e heat with the air flowing through the air-c annels.

3. A tier of horizontal liquidchannels formed of boards, whose edges abut, and angleirons which support the boards; the angle-v irons extending the entire length of theliquidchannels in two tiers, .the vertical legs of the nels, while the horizontal legs ,form'supports for the ends of the boards; upright supports for the angle-irons; a li uid-inlet to the upper liquid-channel, and a l quid-outlet from the lower li uid-channel dams at the ends of the loo liquid-c annels; liquid-outlets for the intermediate li uid-channels; a casing inclosing the liquid-c annels, the two sides of said cas- 4 ing being at a distance from the liquid-channe s; an air-inlet to, and an air-outlet from, 105

the casing air-channels being thus formed by the liquid-channels, and these two sides of the casing; dampers in the air-channels so arranged that air may be caused to flow through I the air-channels either in series or in parallel 1 IO all being so combined that the liquid flowing through the liquid-channels will exchange heat with the air flowing through theair-channels.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature 115- 

